Health

Court-assisted ethicide; two courtroom decisions on physician-assisted suicide undermine the ethical standard of 'First, do no harm.'(Editorial)

Article Abstract:

Judicial sanction of physician-assisted suicide is a devastating attack on long-standing medical ethics. The tenet that physicians should 'do no harm' is fundamental to medical ethics, and the two courtroom rulings favoring the physician-assisted suicide, and the reasoning behind them, are wrong. In one case, a federal appeals court in San Francisco, CA, dismissed a Washington state prohibition of the practice, reasoning that it was a logical progression from other ethically sound medical practices. Meanwhile a jury in Pontiac, MI, found Dr Jack Kervorkian innocent of assisting in the suicides of two patients. The latter case may yet be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Release of disciplinary data highly charged

Article Abstract:

State health departments are weighing whether or not to disclose the names of physicians who have been charged with misconduct. Such cases may take years to resolve and are sometimes based on trivial matters. The New York State Department of Health has published a newsletter containing the names of physicians who have been charged with misconduct but may discontinue the practice because of the intense media attention it focused on a few physicians. Consumer groups have been pressuring states to disclose more physician misconduct data.

Medical profession aims to police itself

Article Abstract:

Physicians' efforts to set standards for ethical conduct have been undermined by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission's use of antitrust law applied to doctors as ordinary businessmen. On the other hand, Congress and the Health Care Financing Administrations set regulations contrary to the assumption that medicine is a business. The proposal of the Chicago Medical Association and AMA to set up a fee mediation committee represents a step in the right direction.